Temporal distribution of blood donations in three Brazilian blood centers and its repercussion on the blood supply

Abstract

Background: Seasonal distribution of blood donation hinders efforts to provide a safe and adequate blood supply leading to chronic and persistent shortages. This study examined whether holidays, geographical area and donation type (community versus replacement) has any impact on the fluctuation of donations. Methods:The numbers of blood donations from 2007 through 2010 in three Brazilian Retrovirus Epidemiological Donor Study II (REDS-II) participating centers were analyzed according to the week of donation. The weeks were classified as holiday or non-holiday. To compare donations performed during holiday versus non-holiday weeks, tabulations and descriptive statistics for weekly donations by blood center were examined and time series analysis was conducted. Results:The average weekly number of donations varied according to the blood center and type of week. The average number of donations decreased significantly during Carnival and Christmas and increased during the Brazilian National Donor Week. The fluctuation was more pronounced in Recife and Belo Horizonte when compared to São Paulo and higher among community donors. Conclusion:National bank holidays affect the blood supply by reducing available blood donations. Blood banks should take into account these oscillations in order to plan local campaigns, aiming at maintaining the blood supply at acceptable levels.

Blood donation in a large urban centre of southeast Brazil: a population‐based study

“…Comparisons of donors and non‐donors were performed for approximately 230 categorical or continuous variables, including demographic characteristics, those related with type of work and income, household aspects, access of information, social capital (Oliveira et al , 2013a,b) and self‐perception of health.…”

“…Population‐based studies are essential for this purpose, but they are scarce and of high cost. In Brazil, blood donors have been characterised by information derived from blood centres, including evaluations of serological markers, risk factors to transfusion‐transmitted infections (TTI), temporal analysis of blood donation and studies with prospective donors aimed at the understanding of motivation for donation (Carneiro‐Proietti et al , ; Sabino et al , ; Goncalez et al , 2013a,b; Oliveira et al , 2013a,b).…”

Blood donation and donors: insights from a large German teaching hospital (2008–2017)

“…and viral epidemics such as influenza may increase the short‐term demand for blood, making meeting supply challenging . Moreover, seasonal shortages around holiday periods and during the winter months are common .…”

Difficult blood donor choices: dance, feast or donate blood?

“…An article in this issue of the Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia addresses one of the most difficult management challenges in blood banking: balancing supply and demand of blood and blood products collected from volunteer, non-remunerated donors (1) . It looks specifically at the distribution of weekly blood collections at three major Brazilian blood centers participating in the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II (REDS-II) research program supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health from January 2007 to December 2010 (2) .…”